Ephraim E. Lisitzky

Born in Minsk in 1885, Lisitzky spent his childhood in Slutzk before moving to Boston with his father in 1900.{{r|rubin}} He spent a brief time studying at the Rabbi Yitzḥak Elḥanan Yeshiva, and received a degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from Marquette University.{{r|mintz_2011}} He afterward spent years teaching Hebrew and Jewish studies in various locations in the United States and Canada.{{r|EJ}} In 1918, he was appointed head of the Communal Hebrew School in New Orleans, where he remained until his retirement.{{r|katz}}

Lisitzky was a member of the Zionist Organization of America and the Histradut Ivrit.{{r|ajw}} Still, despite his early plans to emigrate to Israel, Lisitzky only visited there twice and remained ambivalent about the prospect throughout his life.{{r|katz_2009}}

He died in New Orleans in 1962 after a long illness.{{r|nyt_obit}}

Lisitzky is credited with making significant contributions to the representation of marginalized groups in Hebrew literature.{{r|katz_2009}} He is perhaps best known for his epic poem Medurot do'akhot ('Dying Campfires', 1937), written in unrhymed trochaic tetrameter,{{r|marcus}} which is based on Native American legends.{{r|katz}} His collection of poems Be'oholey Kush ('In the Tents of Cush', 1953) draws inspiration from African-American folktales and spirituals.{{r|mintz_2003}}

In addition to his poetry, Lisitzky also wrote a number of articles on literature and educational matters in the Hebrew press, which were collected in his book, Bi-shevilei ḥayyim ve-sifrut ('In the Paths of Life and Literature', 1961). He is also the only American Hebrew poet to have written an autobiography, which was published under the title Eleh toldot Adam ('These Are the Generations of Adam', 1959).{{r|mintz_2011}} This was translated into English under the title In the Grip of Cross Currents.{{cite book|first=Ephraim E.|last=Lisitzky|title=In the Grip of Cross Currents|publisher=Bloch Publishing Company|location=New York|year=1959|translator1-first=Moshe|translator1-last=Kohn|translator2-first=Jacob|translator2-last=Sloan|language=en}}

As an educator at Communal Hebrew School in New Orleans, which he founded, Lisitzky's primary goal was to make his students fluent in spoken and written Hebrew, as he had a profound admiration for the glories of the Hebrew language. This he did by immersing his students in Hebrew, speaking only Hebrew, never English, in his classes, and by teaching the Torah both in the original and as translated into other Hebrew words. The results were astonishingly successful, as Lisitzky produced, over a succession of generations, a line of phenomenally proficient reciters of the Torah who were hailed as prodigies.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

He was awarded honorary doctorates from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1949 and the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 1960 for his literary achievements.{{r|katz_2009}}

{{div col}}

• {{cite book|title=Shirim|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=Ḥaverim|date=1928|language=he|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3304118|url-access=limited}}
• {{cite book|title=Naftule Elohim|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=ʻOgen|date=1934|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.%24b149693|url-access=limited}}
• {{cite book|title=Medurot doʻakhot|trans-title=Dying Campfires|location=New York|publisher=ʻOgen|date=1937|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015025873350|url-access=limited}}
• {{cite book|title=Ha-Seʻarah|trans-title=The Tempest|location=New York|publisher=ʻOgen|date=1941}}
• {{cite book|title=Adam ʿal adamot: poʾemot|trans-title=Man on Earth: Poemas|location=New York|publisher=ʻOgen|date=1947|language=he}}
• {{cite book|title=Eleh toldot adam|location=Jerusalem|publisher=Mossad Bialik|date=1949|language=he|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000982820|url-access=limited}}
• {{cite book|title=Be-ohole Kush: shirim|trans-title=In the Tents of Cush|location=Jerusalem|publisher=Mossad Bialik|date=1953|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015028187618|url-access=limited}}
• {{cite book|title=Be-maʻalot uve-moradot|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=Devir|date=1954|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umd.31430058564776|url-access=limited}}
• {{cite book|title=Negohot me-ʻarafel|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=ʻOgen|date=1956|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.%24b386859|url-access=limited}}
• {{cite book|title=Anshe midot|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=ʻAm ha-sefer|date=1957}}
• {{cite book|title=In the Grip of Cross Currents|publisher=Bloch Publishing Company|location=New York|year=1959|translator1-first=Moshe|translator1-last=Kohn|translator2-first=Jacob|translator2-last=Sloan|language=en}} Translation of Eleh toldot adam into English.
• {{cite book|title=Bi-yeme shoʼah u-meshoʼah: maḥazot|location=New York|publisher=ʻOgen|date=1959|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015040888896|url-access=limited|language=he}}
• {{cite book|title=Kemo ha-yom rad: shirim|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=Maḥbarot le-sifrut|date=1960|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.%24b149666|url-access=limited|language=he}}
• "Yulius Keisar" {{bracket|Julius Caesar}}. In {{cite book|first=William|last=Shakespeare|author-link=William Shakespeare|title=Tragediot|trans-title=Tragedies|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=Am ha-sefer|date=1960|pages=61–113|language=he}}
• {{cite book|title=Bi-shvile ḥayim ve-sifrut|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=Maḥbarot le-sifrut|date=1961|language=he}}
• {{cite book|title=Kokhavim noflim|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=Maḥbarot le-sifrut|date=1963|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000002636720|url-access=limited|language=he}}
• {{cite book|title=Meshorerah shel Yahadut Amerikah|location=Tel Aviv|publisher=Maḥbarot le-sifrut|date=1966|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002735600|url-access=limited}}

{{div col end}}

{{Archival records|title=Ephraim E. Lisitzky papers, 1948–1961|location=American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati|description_URL=http://prestohost54.inmagic.com/Presto/content/Detail.aspx?ctID=ZGU2OTc5Y2UtNjY0Yy00MzUyLWFlMzUtNWExZDQ3YTNhNjQz&rID=NjA5MQ==&qrs=RmFsc2U=&q=TGlzaXR6a3k=&ph=VHJ1ZQ==&bckToL=VHJ1ZQ==&rrtc=VHJ1ZQ==}}

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite book | last=Marcus | first=Jacob Rader| title=United States Jewry, 1776–1985|volume=4| publisher=Wayne State University Press | year=2018 | isbn=978-0-8143-4505-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZpwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT423}}

{{cite book|first=Alan|last=Mintz|title=Sanctuary in the Wilderness: A Critical Introduction to American Hebrew Poetry|doi=10.11126/stanford/9780804762939.003.0005|url=https://stanford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.11126/stanford/9780804762939.001.0001/upso-9780804762939-chapter-5|publisher=Stanford University Press | publication-place=Stanford, California | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-8047-6293-9}}

{{cite news|title=Obituary|location=Minneapolis and St. Paul|newspaper=The American Jewish World|date=6 July 1962|page=13|url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/amjwld/1962/07/06/01/article/55/?e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1|volume=50|issue=45}}

{{cite journal|title=To Be As Others: E. E. Lisitzky's Re-presentation of Native Americans|first=Stephen|last=Katz|journal=Hebrew Union College Annual|volume=73|date=2002|pages=249–297|jstor=23509014|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23509014}}

{{cite news|title=E. E. Lisitzky, 77, a Hebrew Poet; Author, Also Translator and Educator, Is Dead|date=27 June 1962|page=35|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/06/27/archives/ee-lisitzky-77-a-hebrew-poet-author-also-translator-and-educator-is.html}}

{{cite book | last=Rubin | first=Steven Joel | title=Writing Our Lives: Autobiographies of American Jews, 1890–1990 | publisher=Jewish Publication Society | year=1991 | isbn=978-0-8276-0393-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chJaMwj0g_QC&pg=PA64| page=64}}

{{cite encyclopedia|title=Lisitzky, Ephraim E.|first=Eisig|last=Silberschlag|volume=13|page=81|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lisitzky-ephraim-e|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Judaica|editor1-first=Michael|editor1-last=Berenbaum|editor1-link=Michael Berenbaum|editor2-first=Fred|editor2-last=Skolnik|editor2-link=Fred Skolnik|edition=2nd|location=Detroit|publisher=Macmillan Reference|year=2007}}

{{cite book|first=Alan|last=Mintz|chapter=Hebrew literature in America | editor-last=Wirth-Nesher | editor-first=Hana | editor-last2=Kramer | editor-first2=Michael P. | title=The Cambridge Companion to Jewish American Literature |location=Cambridge| publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-521-79699-6 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixjqw5LdXnsC&pg=PA105| page=105}}

{{cite book | last=Katz | first=Stephen | title=Red, Black, and Jew: New Frontiers in Hebrew Literature | publisher=University of Texas | publication-place=Austin | date=2009 | isbn=978-0-292-79926-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ezhLoqWYlrkC}}

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Category:1885 births

Category:1962 deaths

Category:20th-century American educators

Category:20th-century American poets

Category:20th-century American translators

Category:American male poets

Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States

Category:English–Hebrew translators

Category:Hebrew-language poets

Category:Jewish American poets

Category:Jewish educators

Category:Marquette University alumni

Category:Poets from Louisiana

Category:Translators of William Shakespeare

Category:Writers from Minsk

Category:Writers from New Orleans

Category:Jews from Louisiana